With summer and peak travel season just months away, Austin-based Captain Experiences secured $2 million in new funding. The online platform that helps people find and book chartered fishing trips said it has also seen “record interest” in its platform in recent months.
Captain’s co-founder Jonathan Newar created the online platform after he had a bad experience planning a fishing trip. He said he encountered several roadblocks when trying to find local information or guides for the destination he was interested in visiting. After that, Newar created a booking platform to simplify the process. He found fishing guides to join the platform and launched Captain in 2020.
Captain allows fishing guides to list their information on the platform for free, but the guides agree to pay Captain a commission whenever someone books their services through the platform. The guides also submit weekly reports, photos and videos to Captain to show users what each company is up to.
Since launching, Captain has partnered with more than 1,200 fishing guides throughout the United States and several other countries, the company said in a release.
“At Captain, our mission is to unlock the outdoors, using technology as a means to an end to minimize screens and maximize life,” Newar said in the release. “In just a few short years, we’ve substantiated Captain’s position as the largest platform for booking fishing guides in the U.S., and I couldn’t be more proud of our team and more thankful for our adventurers and guides.”
The new funding will help Captain double its team and grow its platform to include other outdoor activities. After the company raised a $2 million round in 2022, Captain told Built In that it was looking to include activities such as hunting, hiking, rafting, rock climbing and mountain biking on its platform.
Captain’s recent round was led by Bullish, an early-stage investment firm based in New York.
Captain is currently hiring an engineer and content writer.
